March 2012

I can't believe it is March already, and there has been no blog since November - where has the year gone? I feel like I should still be saying happy new year!

We had an exciting start to the new year, with Doug's 21st birthday party at Fairview in January. Never having had a function at Fairview, our property at The Crags near Plettenberg Bay, it was with a certain degree of trepidation that we planned it. 85 people invited,music booked, bar stocked,food sorted (all relatives were press ganged into chopping, peeling and cooking) but what we couldn't control was the weather! No tent,tables laid in the garden, totally reliant on good weather! We need not have worried, it was a beautiful evening, stunning sunset and the party finally ended at 3am!


Andrew and Anel announced their engagement in January to much excitement, and will be getting married at Fairview in October. However, this time we are taking no chances with the weather and will have a tent and we will not be doing the catering ourselves!

This seems to be the year of The Wedding. George Irwin and Renee Bufe who met while working here, are getting married in August and we are thrilled that they have chosen to have it at Fugitives' Drift. A new challenge as this will be the first wedding for the Lodge!

January and February sped by, we were very busy which was great. Super guests with just a couple of tricky ones thrown in to keep us on our toes! If you read our Facebook page you will have read my laments about the lack of rain - this is the driest summer since 1948, we have had the sum total of 60mm since the 1 January - it is desperately dry. For our guests the weather has been perfect! We thought the cyclone last week might bring us some relief, but all we got was overcast weather and strong winds!

The game continues to flourish, plenty of impala, blesbok and zebra were born late last year, and it is always so exciting to see newborn giraffe. They are not suffering from the drought yet, although low summer rainfall has a detrimental effect on the quality of the winter grazing which is concerning.

A group of us staff, and sometimes energetic guests cycle every morning and we are treated most days to great game viewing. A couple of times we have been rewarded by a brief sighting of bushpigs darting across the path in front of us! We have cut some great mountain biking single track and are in the process of marking the routes so guests can take a bike (we now have 4 exclusively for guests use) and go off on a ride.


My New Years resolutions (I must have forgotten the one about regular blogs!)were to upgrade our website (www.fugitivesdrift.com) and Facebook page, these are done and are looking great. Have a look at the website for specials as well as information on our Battlefields by Bike weekend in June and The Rattrace in September.

I think that is enough from me for now and it wont be 4 months till I post again - I hope!

Dan with the breccia

Ancient piece in the rock garden - by Dan Hathaway

I discovered four different types of interesting rock during my visit to Fugitive's Drift. All four of them tell very different stories.

These are my observations about the rock I am holding in the photograph.
It isn't often I get to hold a piece of import breccia in my hand. In fact, I have never done it before.
This is so because impact breccia is formed by the collision of meteorite with the surface of the earth. This is a very rare occurrence.

There are really only a few places in the world where this has happened.
So to be holding a piece of evidence of cosmic collision is all the more exciting.

If you look closely at impact breccia you can see the shattered fragments of the earth's crust that the meteorite slammed into. I was thinking that it looked like someone seriously tore into a rock pile with a sledgehammer. The whole thing is glued together in a matrix of something called melt rock. Melt rock is caused by the tremendous amount of heat liberated by the impact. The breccia then cools and solidifies.

Did anything get hurt by the meteorite? Probably not, because the age of a nearby crater is about 2 billion years old. The only things living back then were single cell bacteria. It was a really different world.

Who would have thought that a walk in your beautiful rock garden would extend back that far.

Guest feedback - the best advertising!

Dear Nicky,
It was a pleasure to meet you after waiting all these years.
Below is from Dan, for you to use on the blog. Rest assured he will have much more to say!
God bless you,
Alison

Dear Nicky,

I want to tell you how much Alison and I enjoyed our stay at Fugitive's Drift. Your extraordinary
effort and attention to detail made our stay memorable.

When I travel I miss my pets at home. Having the black labrador, Spud, meet us at our door made me feel so welcome. There is nothing quite like enjoying morning coffee and a view of the African countryside with a sleeping dog at your feet.


We are looking forward to our next stay.

Dan Hatheway
Deep River Connecticut

Great feedback from Sally Kirby of Sally and Alice Travel Co

Sally kindly agreed to let me share her feedback on her stay at Fugitives' Drift last week.

Hello Nicky,

Sorry not to see you at Fugitives during our stay, but rest assured we were very well looked after by your team. Having heard so much about Fugitives Drift over the years, I am so pleased I finally got there to find out what all the fuss was about, it is a very special place. I have listed in brief some of the highlights from my stay, thank you so much for arranging it and for suggesting Umzinyathi for our group, it was perfect:


Fugitives Lodge – beautiful gardens, herb garden, pool area for midday lounging and freshen up before afternoon tour. Dogs running around, family photos, press snippets – steeped in history yet very relaxing. Lots of space for people to spread out and find there own little corner to relax and enjoy the views.


Harford Library – I could have spent days in here, such a wonderful building and full of so many fascinating books, comfy sofas – and views over to Isandlwana mesmerizing.


Umzinyathi – beautiful setting, loved the views out the front. We arrived in the dark to find all candles and fire lit, very atmospheric. Breakfast under the trees, watching the giraffes nearby and cattle being herded. Margaret and Keos were on hand to look after us, very warm, smiley and attentive.


Rorkes Drift tour with Andrew – he was excellent, very natural, moving and an excellent storyteller. I left with a lot of soggy tissues, and a notebook brimming – and a fascination with Anglo-Zulu history


Staff – all great but particularly loved Grace, she was the perfect hostess and had everyone clapping when she sang after dinner.


Dinner – v atmospheric, we had two long tables, the 5 course dinner was delicious and lots of interesting conversation flowing across several different nationalities and age groups.


Thank you again to you and the team for welcoming us into your beautiful home. You have a fantastic set up and I look forward to working with you all.


With best wishes,


Sally

e: sally@sallyandalice.com
t: +44 7904 958 194
s: sallykirby
w: www.sallyandalice.com

Rattrace 2011

RATTRACE 2011

Last weekend we hosted the 5th Rattrace - we had a smaller field this year but nonetheless everyone had a great time, no injuries, no punctures and a beautifully cool day. The winner of the bike this year was Thabani Ximba. Craig Carter was pipped at the post by his friend Klaas Meintjies (extraorindary win considering he took a wrong turn and caused a pile up near the gate!) and Tanya McKenzie, heroically retained her title. Tanya's win was dedicated to her beloved son Tegan who died tragically 3 weeks ago.

Brian Green and Andrew Murray, clearly needing more exercise than the rest of us rode to Isandlwana and back - and still managed to come in 5th and 6th! Not bad for two middle aged chaps!

Chris Harvie in his inimitable style managed to part people with their money during the fining ceremony in such a way that they were more than happy to do it! Thank you all for entering into the fun of things and for your incredible generosity. We raised just over R30 000 for The David Rattray Foundation.

Unfortunately the Quarmby's were not here to witness something that they instigated and that will probably never happen again - and that was me cycling the Rattrace. Yes I did it, along with Marian Myers and most importantly finished it. Contrary to my expectation it was much more fun than I thought it would be. Our pelaton brought up the rear, well, I guess someone has to do it! It was recommened and very quickly finalised during the fining (I hasten to add recommended by Patrick's friends not by us ... although maybe the finalisation part was helped along by us ....) that the Quarmby's be severely fined in absentia for not being here to witness the bet they laid last year!

1st - Klaas Meintjies
2nd - Craig Carter
3rd - Rob Godlonton
4th - Thabani Ximba
5th - Brian Green
6th - Andrew Murray
7th - Dedrich Eicker
8th - Sandile Magwaze
9th - William Murray
10th - Tanya McKenzie
11th - Matthew Howarth
12th - Chantal Carter

Thank you to all of you who participated this year, we really appreciate your support